Since Maryland wrestling joined the Big Ten in 2014, the team has gone winless through conference play three times, struggling to adapt to the blue blood competition.
The Terps are just 1-35 in Big Ten dual meets and haven’t won a season opener since 2014.
So, as Maryland’s 2018-19 campaign gets underway — featuring a lineup with many of the same key contributors from the year before — at the Penn Quakers on Sunday, coach Kerry McCoy’s squad looks to buck past trends.
“We don’t want to lose at all. Ever,” McCoy said. “We want to win. We want to perform at a high level, but we just really want to focus on going out there and being the best that we can be.”
[Read more: Maryland wrestling will lean on Youssif Hemida once again during the 2018-19 campaign]
Heavyweight Youssif Hemida, less than two weeks removed from winning a silver medal at the under-23 world championships in Romania, will be making his season debut for the Terps.
For the past three seasons, Hemida has been a staple for Maryland. After posting a team-high 15 dual wins last year, the team will once again lean on Hemida’s steady performances.
“He sets the standard,” said McCoy. “The biggest thing that he adds to this team on top of that is that he’s still learning and getting better.”
The opening meet will also feature a matchup between two top-20 wrestlers. Maryland’s Alfred Bannister and Penn’s Anthony Artalona are projected to face off at the 149-pound weight class. The No. 18 Bannister is 5-0 during early-season tournaments, and Artalona, ranked No. 20 as a freshman, is Penn’s only ranked competitor.
Bannister downplayed the significance of this November matchup. He’s focusing more on his own technique early in the season.
“I’m just trying to focus on being the best I can be, no matter who is on the other side,” Bannister said.
Penn is projected to start six freshmen in total, including Artalona. But they’ve shown promise during limited action, compiling a combined 29-20 record in tournament play so far.
“Just because they are freshman, doesn’t mean we have an advantage,” McCoy said. “If you look in our lineup, we have potential first-year starters, too.”
One of those potential first-year starters is 133-pounder Orion Anderson.
“Competitors go out there and compete,” McCoy said about Anderson. “And if he does that, putting his singlet on with that M across his chest, he’ll go out and have some fun.”
Several Terps are coming off strong performances at last weekend’s Mat Town Open tournament, highlighted by Hunter Baxter going 3-0 en route to winning first place in the 149-pound weight class.
But with Bannister returning as a leader, Baxter likely won’t see much dual time. Bannister won the Princeton Open earlier this month and is primed to build off last year’s campaign, in which he won seven of his last eight bouts.
Brandon Cray, a 125-pounder, also made his season debut last weekend after overcoming offseason injuries.
“He’s been nursing some injuries and got in some mat time,” McCoy said. “He had a really good week of preparation and it was good for him to have that.”
As the first dual meet nears, Maryland hopes to put behind them the struggles of past seasons, buoyed by the return of three NCAA contenders and a slew of up-and-comers. When asked about the upcoming season opener, David-Brian Whisler, a projected starter at 197 pounds, smiled.
“It’s time to go have some fun,” he said.
